The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1887-12-30

| TCopyrighted 1887, by War Publishing Co., N. Y,
| and published by arrangement Withthem.I
Our fireman, ]. A. Wilson, very graph
ically describes this fearful effort to con-
| Quer time:
| ''Our locomotive was under a full head
of steam. The engineer stood with his
hand on the lever, with the valve wide
open. 1t was frightful to see how the
powerful iron monster under us would
leap forward under the revolutions Of her
great wheels. Brown would scream to
me ever and anon, Give her more wood,
All which command was promptly
obeyed She rocked and reeled like g
drunken man, while we tumbled from
side to side like grains of popcorn in a hot
frying pan. 1t was bewildering to look at
the ground or objects on the roadside. A
constant stream of fire ran from the great
wheels, and to this day shudder as re-
feet on that, my first and last locomotive
ride. We sped past houses, stations and
fields and out of sight. almost like a
meteor, while the bystanders, who scarce
ly caught n glimpse of us as we passed,
looked ON as if in both fear and amaze
ment. 1t has always been wonder to me
that our locomotive and cars kept the
track at all, or how they could possibly
| stay Ou AilC AZ Vic nun
horse seemed literally to fly over the
course, the driving wheels of one side
being lifted from the rails much of the
distance over which we now sped with a
velocity fearful to contemplate. We took
little thought of the matter then"
Andrews kept his watch in his hand,
seeming To notice nothing else, for time
was the only element III this part of our
problem, and he and Knight, who looked
on the same watch, always Joined
in declaring that the interval of
nine miles between the two stations
was run in seven and half minute Is;
and this not upon a magnificent road
with steel rails as that road is today,
but over Il poor and neglected trackl 1t
must, in candor, however, be allowed that
Andrews probably reckoned the interval
from losing sight of Adairsville until
coming in sight of Calhoun. When near
the two stations he would be otherwise
engaged, and thus the rate may have been
little over a mile aminute-surely enough
for all the fear, wonder and sublimlty OF
motion!
Our escape on this run was exceedingly
narrow. The passenger train had begun
to move out before we arrived, but it had
only Just got under way while we were
, slackening up for the station. A minute
earlier in their starting would have ended
the raid But seeing us coming, and ouI
whistle sounding out loud and peremp
, tory, they backed before US up the track
and the proper officer obligingly opened
the switch to let US on the side track. Oh
course this was done as much in the in
terest of the passenger train, which could
not go on till we were out of the way, as
in ours.
But they did not go on for some time
and we were obliged to await their move
ments. In backing they had gone fan
enough, not only to give us room on the
side track, but also, as their train was 6
long one, to completely block the far enc
! of it, and we could not proceed on the
main track until they should pull ahead
Before doing this they naturally wanted
, some explanation. The lateness of TIT
regular train; our having FuliHr's engine
; without him or any of his men; and no
least, the manner in which we haC
swooped down upon them like some beas
If prey, coming without any signal mai
ahead at a time when under railroad rule
they were entitled to the road-an this
: which only some most urgent occasion o.
public calamity could excuse, called TO,
explanation. Andrews calmly told hi
: story. and the urgent need of ammunition
{ was felt to justify everything; and all tn
questions were asked and answered tina
are common among railroad men on meet
? ing. Yet Andrews would have talked
: little and would have made a very shor
! STOP had it not been for the manner il
3 which the passenger train bound in hi
l own. We had good right to be uneasy
here, for we had not cut the wires between
; this station and Adairsville because W.
} had not dared, in the terrible urgency o.
: reaching Calhoun, to delay even for thii
, purpose. A question might come on thu
wires at any moment which Andrews
I with all his adroitness, would not find il
easy to answer. Neither had we put any
distractions on the track. This lattel
omission prepared the way for another
race against time, only less swift and fear
full than our own.
Thus we were again delayed. Andrew:
p tried gentle and indirect means to per
suade the conductor of the passenger trair
: that it was perfectly safe for him to rur
q down and get to Adairsville before Full
p ler's passenger train. But he was not
easily persuaded. The bare escape from
! collision with our train had shaken his
: nerves too much for him to wish at once
seem at all in a hurry to move his trair
ahead and let us out on the main track
d but as his train was the only obstacle, II
would not have been long, had he contin
|, ued obstinate, until the reserve force Of
p, our party would have been brought into
2 requisition. 1t may be said here that An
u drews was perfectly sincere in telling hin
4 that there would be abundant time fol
G him to reach Adairsville before Fuller
with his train would be along. We die
not think that Fuller would be along
that day, and with his own train he was
not But as matters were, If the Calhoun
man had allowed himself to be persuaded
to start southwark, fearful collision
! would have ended all possibilities of pur
suit, and left us free to burn bridges al
our leisure. Here was another of the mar
row escapes made by the enemy. To un
derstand this it is necessary to recur tt
Fuller and Murphy, who were within two
or three minutes of Kingston when W,
7 left that place.
They were terribly disappointed wher
they found themselves stopped quite {
long distance below Kingston by three
heavy freight trains, and learned in {
brief conversation with the engineer o.
: the nearest, and the persons who had ruI
uOWu budJ way Ou HcdEillk lHCll
shat their game had flown They heArC
with wonder how long the commander Of
4 the captured train had been held there
r and how he had succeeded in concealine
his real character. The formidable nature
Of the enemy ahead was now clearly re
vealed, but it looked for q moment Il
Fuller as If all his labor had been fol
= nothing, and that he would be able Il
continue the pursuit only after ruinous
delay. To back all these trains up the
heavy grade so that he could get on the
side track, and then down again to get of
at the upper end, would require ar
amount Of "seesawing' that would give
the captors Of his train q hopeless start.
Here arose a difference of opinion be
tween Fuller and Murphy, who up to thii
time had worked together in perfect
accord. Murphy ran ahead and cut loose
the New York, the new and good
engine Of one Of the freights, attaching II
to the car which had brought their tools
from Etowah. He then called to Fuller
to move the Rome engine back out of the
way that he might come round on the
, "Y." But Fuller had different plans.
The Rome engine and train had stood
on its own track all this time waiting for
his coming; the ~
Rome branch led NNM
into the main NM
track above all n IA
the impediments. M
Why not take that - - ~
engine? No sooner TW< yNW
thought than ex- w
ecuted. Fuller 49,
had taken one T9
foot race that day,
and he now took N<
another, shorter, - ~
but not less i'm DEH$M X Al&ke